Curse of the Yuki-Onna
by Ryu Kitsune Bard84
Summary: A single choice changed the course of history. Now Team Seven is assigned to protect some scientists from rebels as they complete work on a machine that will stop the eternal winter in the Land of Snow. But not all is as it seems. Especially when their guide has her own past to confront in this strange land. AU
1. Mission Assignment

Chapter One

_A young girl wandered the vast hallways with a sense of resignation as she passed the multitude of paintings on her side. Her silk slippers were making scuffing noises on the carpet that would earn a scolding from the servants later but the young girl found herself not caring. Not when she was so __**alone. **__She felt the isolation pressing down on her sides only reinforced by the echoing of the hall that she was trudging in. No one cared about her. In fact with the way they were acting it would be better if she just disappeared..._

_Suddenly she reached a closed door that caused her to stop. It was a normal looking one. Nothing special but she knew that someone infinitely precious was in there. Shut away for reasons unexplained. Biting her lip she stared at it for little bit before she straighten up and gritting her teeth she walked forward. Reaching the door she knocked tentatively. _

_"Elsa?" She softly called reaching her hand towards the door placing it on the frame waiting for answer. Of course none came as she expected. Sniffing she removed her hand from the door. She began to walk away back into the hall looking more depressed. But then suddenly she perked up and her eyes brighten. It was decided then. She would leave and then everyone would be happy. Joyful she ran off to her room to grab a few things before she left everything behind… _

Naruto smiled as he strolled through the streets of Konoha looking over the shops and just enjoying one of the very rare times that he was actually off since the Invasion of Konoha. Today had been a good day. It started with his sister waking him up for some ramen breakfast and with the jerk out training meant he didn't have to see him at the table which of course meant that he could eat with his sister in peace for once. On top of that Ero-Sennin was behaving himself and had trained with him for a bit. In addition to that Konohamaru hadn't harassed him for new jutsu so life was good right now. Now all he needed to do to complete this absolutely perfect day was eat at Ichiraku's Ramen shop, get Sakura-chan to go on a date with him and beat the bastard. Yes it was good day indeed.

"Oi Naruto!"

He looked over and noticed that Shikamaru was walking towards with his usual bored expression replaced with an unusually intent gaze. This made Naruto falter slightly in middle of his turnaround. Why was he looking that? Had something happened to Nee-chan?

"The Hokage wants to see you," he drawled out jerking his thumb to the tower. "It's something about your team having a mission right now."

"Oh," Naruto sighed slightly relieved. "That's it?" Surely the mission couldn't be that bad?

Now the bored expression returned with full force as he shrugged and said: "Beats me but she just wants you there pronto."

"Right," Naruto nodded and soon he took off to the roof and his way there. Reaching the tower he nodded to the usual guard and rushed up to the mission assignment room where he knew his team would be waiting for him. Sure enough Sakura-chan was there standing in the middle of the room looking just as confused and worried as he was. As for the Bastard well, he had no facial expression that he could see but from the telltale signs namely his tense shoulders he could see that he was rearing to go. Tsunade on the other hand sat at the other end of the room surrounded a pile a papers with Shizune standing on the side who gave him a wave which he quickly returned. But surprisingly on the right wall nervously fingering her braid of strawberry blonde hair was…

"Eh, Anna-nee-chan?"

"Hello, Naruto-otouto." She smiled as she waved a hand in greeting her worry evaporating she caught a glimpse of him. She was always pleased to see him and said often enough that his smile could melt a heart of stone which made him very happy to see her here. Still that said…

"What are you doing here?" He walked over where she was standing leaving Sakura-chan with the clearly uncaring Teme that just stood there like an ice pillar. His sister shrugged in reply and turned her gazed to Baa-chan who was actually shifting through paperwork instead of sipping her ever present sake jug. Figuring that someone needed to get her attention since something was clearly up he decided to break the ice.

"Hey Baa-chan, what gives? Why'd you call us up?"

He barely had time to blink before something very hard was hurled in his general direction causing him to yip with fear and roll away from his sister into the center of the room where his teammates were rolling their eyes at their antics. It wasn't a fast or nearly as hard as it usually was but then she could have been considering the fact that Nee-chan wasn't used to dodging projectiles courtesy of Baa-chan's legendary strength due to fact she didn't usually get into spats with the super strong Hokage. As it was she managed to dodge it with a squeak and a slight jump to the side.

"Show more respect for your elders, brat." Tsunade growled not looking amused for once. Naruto stopped short at the gaze his usually retort dying in his lips. Oh no, this was serious if Baa-chan was looking this bad.

"Baka," Sasuke rolled his eyes with annoyance but instead of following up Naruto stared at the Hokage waiting for her to start the meeting.

"Since we're waiting for Kakashi…"

"Which should take a few hours," Nee-chan muttered with an eye roll as she settled back to her spot on the wall.

"I think we should at least get a feel for if you guys are up to the current state of affairs of the nations." Tsunade said plowing through the remark but with an amused grin indicating that in spite of not commenting she did agree with the sentiment.

"Ah sorry I'm late," Kakashi chirped blithely as he slammed the door dispelling the tension in the room. Angrily Naruto turned towards his tardy teacher with Sakura mirroring him. Sasuke merely settled for looking annoyed but his sister just looked exasperated.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Both Naruto and Sakura pointed accusing fingers at their Jonin commander who shrugged that the accusation and said: "Sorry about that but I was helping out an old lady with her groceries and it took longer than I expected…"

"LIAR!" Naruto barked shaking his fist at moron. "You were probably just reading Ero-Sennin's work!"

"He'd better not be doing that," Anna growled looking less like the loving and kind sister that he know and more like an oni…or like Sakura-chan when she was really mad at him. "Because I have already told him what would happen if I caught him with that crap and what I would do with stash of his."

"Whoa, whoa," Kakashi nervously backed away from her causing Naruto to snicker slight at the scene. "Calm down, Anna-chan. I do remember vividly what you said about that subject."

"Ahem," Tsunade cleared her throat catching the attention of others, "now that we're all present." She glared slightly at Kakashi. "I can get on with the mission assignment."

"What kind of mission?"

"It's special kind of mission," she said with a slight frown. "Normally we would send a team of Chūnin to do this but due to our limited resources we have send you guys instead."

"OI BAA-CHAN WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?"

"Quiet brat," Tsunade barked before turning her gaze back to the others. "Alright, what do you know of the Land of Snow?" She now leaned back in her chair looking intently at his sister causing her squirm slightly nervous under her gaze. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Baa-chan and was about say something in defense of his sister…

"The Land of Snow, it's very young nation in the terms of power," Sakura answered in her "textbook mode" as he liked to call it cutting across what he wanted to say. A stern look from both Kakashi and Shizune forced him to shut his mouth with snap as he settled in to listen to the rest of the explanation.

"It was started up five years ago after a smaller nation collapsed upon itself for reasons that are classified. It started conquering other neighboring nations and is a relatively minor power in the grand scheme of things. Their hidden village of Yukigakure, are basically composed of lesser clans specializing in water, wind and some very rare ice based jutsu but no kekkei genkai clans that we know of. Right now their main export is chakra absorbent metal that can be found only in the lower mountain ranges and they're heavily depended upon imports since their homeland is icebound."

"Well done," Tsunade smirked at his teammate. "Nice to see that someone is well-informed in this team but there is one detail that you left out and that was the original name of the land. It was known Arendelle before it started acquiring lands and shinobi."

"Wait what?"

Tsunade looked over at his sister with slight smirk while she blushed at her outburst. Naruto stared at the two for a split second before piping in: "Um, Anna-nee-chan wasn't that your home long ago?"

"Emphasis on long ago as in _really long ago_," Anna said seriously crossing her arms giving him a rather haunted gaze. She hated talking about her time before Konoha and now was no exception. "Like Shodai Hokage long ago. I was only a kid when I left."

"Regardless," Shizune said speaking for the first time since they'd entered the room. "You do know the language and the customs of the land."

"Vaguely," she admitted twisting her hair again. She always did that when she was nervous about something. "I left there when I was orphaned at seven. I don't remember much about the land anymore."

"I know," Shizune said quietly as she adjusted her grip on a folder that she'd been holding. "But Team Seven is going to need your translation skills and your however vague recollections of the customs to help them."

"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You are aware there is severe social unrest going on right now? The Daimyo has said that it is extremely treacherous to travel there at this time."

"I am very aware of the situation." Tsunade nodded. "But your mission is involving protecting some scientists from locals while they complete a machine."

"A machine?" Kakashi asked. "What kind of machine?"

"The details are in the mission profile," the Hokage snapped her fingers causing to Anna to jump as Shizune handed her the folder. "You're leaving Konoha tomorrow. From here you will go to the coastal city of Tojinba and board the ship _Valkyrie_ which will take you to Flekkefjord the capital. The details of your arrival on you mission parameters are in there. Dismissed."


	2. Packing for A Trip

Chapter 2

_Anna quietly shut the door to the servants entrance as she tip toed out of the castle and into the darken streets. It was around dinner time so everyone was busy bustling about and no one noticed a very small seven-year-old creeping away in the very loud kitchen. In fact she might as well been invisible for all the attention they paid. This strengthened her resolve to leave the isolation of the palace for call of the wider world. She was going someplace where she'd have fun and an adventure. Then maybe she could find someone that would play with her like Elsa did before she changed and love her and pay attention to her like her parents did before they started disappearing. She know it was dangerous, the books she'd read said so but she didn't mind because for the first time in forever Anna felt free and happy. She was on her way to adventure and away from the shut doors of her home._

_The docks were far-off from her home so it took her awhile to actually get to the ship that she wanted despite her early start. Luckily it seemed that it was delayed so she was in luck this time. Also it seemed that the dusk itself was helping. It was clear with a few clouds but the setting sun and the raising full moon allowed her to see where she was going and avoid all the bad looking people. Finally she reached the ship that she wanted. It was a good thing that she'd gotten better at sneaking about since she never would have found out about this ship, _Karasumaru_, at all._

_She'd overheard that this particular ship was one of the last heading into foreign lands. The reasons for the stopping of trade were lost her but the fact the ship was going far away was perfect because that's where she wanted to be. Anna giggled silently as she slinked across the busy dock ducking behind the cargo that was still being loaded. Finding a rather large chest she tested the lid. Finding that it was unlocked she opened it and quietly slipped inside. It wasn't exactly roomy but it was large enough to lie in without too much discomfort. Smiling she laid down upon the fabrics and went to sleep barely hearing the lock snap into place…_

Anna huffed with annoyance as she grabbed her clothing and stuffed it into a traveling pack rather haphazardly. She knew that she would have to organize it later but right she just needed this time to vent out her feelings. Going back to Arendel-no the Land of Snow was going to be a trial for her. She'd thought that she would never set foot on that land again when she left at seven years of age. It would seem that heavens did have a sense of humor and most of it was aimed at her. Groaning she dropped pair of pants unto the bed and with a moment's pause she pulled out an old truck. Dusting it off she gingerly opened it and gazed at the contents.

There were two books in there, one an old map book that was perhaps at this point several years out of date and a book of fairytales. The first was a matter of necessity after all she was running away from her home so she figured that she'd need some sort of guide since most of the stories indicated the hero had some sort of map so she'd taken it to help out on the journey.

As for the second on the other hand it was taken for purely sentimental reasons…it was the book that she and Elsa used to read until she started staying in her room. The fairytale book showed more signs of usage the map one due to the fact that it'd been her Mother's before her and that she'd read many of the stories to Naruto. He'd been thrilled to hear tales of Sigmund or Sigurd or about the Aesir like Thor and Loki but not so much about the princes and princesses much to her chagrin. Still it was a good book and it was the inspiration for running away. Both of those books represented Arendelle that'd she left behind.

How could she go back? She wondered fitfully. She'd made her choice however impulsive and stupid it may have been. Anna had boarded the ship with little intention to go back to her cold home but now…She wasn't sure what she wanted or rather how she should feel about it.

She sighed as she leaned back into the wall looking out of the tiny window in to the sunny summer sky as she held the fairytale book letting the map book flop back into the trunk. Konoha was home now; there was no doubt about it. She had made it home and had forged bonds with the people here. So…

_It's not like I'm staying,_ she reasoned trying to calm her racing heart. _I mean I'm just helping the team for this mission not going back to the royal palace. Back to those closed doors and those cold hallways. _The thought caused her to shudder even as she reassured herself. She wasn't that lonely princess after all since she had relinquished the claim more or less to any sort of power when she ran off. But still there was a lingering sense of guilt that she'd abandoned her family even though it had turned out to be the best…

"You can take the fairytale book, you know. I think you'll need it."

She gasped slightly and turned around to see Sasuke standing in the entrance looking at her with the smallest hint of concern. Shaking she banished her morose thoughts as she gazed at him remembering precisely why she knew Konoha was home. Naruto and Sasuke were perhaps at this time the biggest reason aside from Yamanaka Inoichi, the late Sandaime Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hoshi, her team and their families like the Inuzuka and Yamanaka were why Konoha had become home for her. All of them had helped her at one point or another with something. That of course had made her feel like she was loved and appreciated. It was due to them that she'd been able to find her way and thrive in this world.

That was perhaps the reason, now that she thought about it, as to why she was scared of going back. It was like Sasuke with the Uchiha district, too many bad memories and being bound to the past. Still she knew that was nothing to complain about too much considering she know that many others had it worse than her. After all she was at least able to escape it unlike Gaara or Neji who she know would have to live with what they'd done or what the fates had thrown at them.

"Anna?"

She snapped herself out her reflective mood only to see that Sasuke's mild concern had blossomed into full blown worry as he stood over her. Normally she would have teased him about showing such a display of emotion but right now she couldn't bring herself to. Something about this seemed well too important for levity.

"Sorry," she smiled apologetically. "It's just some old demons coming back, nothing to worry about."

"I'll be alright," she said as she got up from her spot ruffling his hair along the way. "I just need get a grip."

A snort was her reply and he began to lean on the door in front of her with a serious look upon his face. Anna smiled at the display even as she returned to her packing; Sasuke wasn't one to display emotion due to his homicidal brother's massacring of his family. So as one could imagine this kind of fussing was his way of showing he cared and was worried about her. It was in a way sweet of him to be this concerned for her wellbeing since he was normally shut off from those emotions. Additionally, Naruto for all his affections tended to be very obvious to the subtle displays of emotions that Sasuke was able to catch.

"So," she began breaking the silence and asked even she packed book of fairytales into her backpack. "Why do I need the book?"

Sasuke realizing Anna was more or less recovered relaxed his face slightly and resumed his nonchalant stance. Anna turned towards him expectantly waiting for the answer.

"Because doofus still needs a bedtime story to sleep at night," Sasuke smirked.

"OI TAKE THAT BACK TEME!" Naruto slammed into Sasuke causing both to tumble to ground in a tangle of limbs. Growling his annoyance Sasuke proceeded to wrestling with Naruto who was employing some rather dirty tricks in fighting back.

Anna used to such shenanigans rolled her eyes and finished up her packing ignoring the noise they made until it became a distinct drone for her. When she was finally done she noticed that the two had tactfully taken their fight outside so they wouldn't trash the apartment and face her wrath. Giggling at the memories of the cowering boys before her rather formidable rage she took a gander into their rooms to see the progress of their packing. Sasuke's as expected was already finished with the pack already sealed whereas Naruto's was still in mid-pack giving his already messy quarters an additional chaotic feel.

She rolled her eyes at the inevitable flurry of activity that would ensue from Naruto's disorganization she went to kitchen to prepare dinner for the boys so they could eat once they were through bashing each other's brains in.


	3. Dinner with Team 12

Chapter 3

_She did not expect to be scrubbing the pots and pans on this voyage. But then it wasn't any worse than choking to death. She'd woken up a few days ago breathless and pounding on the chest so someone would release her. Well, she was indeed saved but the Captain was less than thrilled about having a stowaway on the ship so he'd put her to work._

_So Anna was sent to gulley to work with the cook who was friends with chūnin leader on a guard mission named Daichi Fujimoto who could speak with her told Anna that she should head to Konoha. He said that they were much more accepting of orphans then most villages were and even offered to take along and she accepted his kindness. When they reached port Daichi arranged to have her transported to Konoha with a trade caravan. Anna was grateful for his kindness and with time made her way to the village._

_When she reached the gates she looked up and saw the faces of the former Hokages Anna knew that she was now at the beginning of her own adventure…_

Anna wondered the late night streets of Konoha with a spring in her step as she neared the restaurant, _Mapo's BBQ,_ where she was going to meet her teammates for a meal. It was tradition that they got together for a meal before any of the members departed for a mission. Even years after the Chūnin exams they still kept up the tradition as a way to honor their former sensei, Uchiha Kimiko who had always invited them to her house before the Uchiha massacre.

Now that had been a rough time for the team especially since they'd just gotten into used to each other and then she'd been killed along with her clan in a single night. It was something that shook up at the team especially when Usagi-sensei had replaced her because unbeknownst to them at the time she had been their deceased teacher's friend. In coming into the team she had introduced her rather lax methods of teaching. Whereas Kimiko-sensei was by the book kind of shinobi, Usagi-sensei was more freewheeling allowing the team to finally get its niche as a search and detain team for the Intel. It was with her help that they passed the Chūnin exams at the age of 15. So because of this they'd taken to inviting her to dinner with them.

Walking into the place she was greeted by the smells of roasting meat and spices as well as the slight roar of many people talking. She looked around the crowded restaurant and soon spotted her teammates in their usual spot near the window. Grinning she let out a call to them: "Yo, Hiji, Akira, and Usagi-sensei!"

"Anna," the brunette and slightly long haired Inuzuka boy smiled as she approached him and his seatmate. Anna returned the smile with equal enthusiasm as did Akira Hyuuga who sat beside him. Beneath the table Shiromaru yipped with joy as his tail wagged beating out a beat. To Hiji's left was their sensei, Sarutobi Usagi, who was the drawing something in her sketch book still looked up briefly and waved a greeting.

"How are you guys doing?" She asked as she settled down next to their sensei. The two had been out on border patrol lately and were thinking of transferring to the border guard division. Anna on the other hand was keener to stay working in the Intel division since she was good a discerning information patterns. It was something that Usagi-sensei encouraged since she too worked with Intel as well and in fact she was her superior at work.

"We're doing alright," Hiji grinned speaking of the both of them. "Akira and I are considered the best in the patrol so we're thinking we might make this assignment long term."

"That's good," Anna replied as she looked at the menu. "I always thought you guys would be good at that."

"Of course," Hiji puffed up his chest proudly. "We are the best."

"You keep thinking that." Usagi sensei quipped as she finally looked up from her sketchbook giving him a sardonic grin her blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "I seem to remember a brat that couldn't be bothered to check for traps."

"Ah sensei," he sighed giving her his patented puppy eyes. "Don't be like that."

"Hiji," Akira interrupted before Hiji and Usagi-sensei could get into their traditional spats. He was the quietest in the group so when he spoke up it tended to be for a really good reason. "Not right now, please?"

"Fine," Hiji said as he leaned back with a mock huff. His ninken followed suit and huffed as well to Anna's amusement.

"So," Akira looked over at Anna who had finished looking over the menu. "I hear you've got a mission now."

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "It's to the Land of Snow."

"Really is that so?" Usagi-sensei raised an eyebrow as their food arrived. "I was under the impression it was off limits for now."

"Yeah I thought so too," Anna said shaking her head. "But the Hokage wants me to accompany Team Seven there."

"Are you going to track someone there?" Hiji asked. "Because I say that if you are tracking someone and need some help then I'm your man."

"Indeed," Akira agreed. "I would be happily to lend my services as well."

"Thanks for the offer." Anna interjected. "But I'm just working as a translator and guide. There's no one that needs to be tracked as far as I know."

"Ah, yes that's right." Usagi-sensei said snapping her fingers. "It used be Arendelle before right? So you'd know a thing or two about what it's like there."

"Arendelle," Hiji growled at the name with Shiromaru beneath the table growling in unison with his partner. "Wasn't that the place you ran from?"

"The very same," She agreed with a sad smile. "They need a guide there."

"I see," Akira gave her a concerned glance. "And how are you holding up on that?"

"Wait what?"

"Don't play coy Anna," Hiji countered before she could follow up on her remark. "We know that you hate the place or at least the assholes that lived there."

"No I don't hate it."

"Could have fooled me," the Sarutobi rolled her eyes with the remark. "Brat, I've trained you for years and I gotta say that at the very least you dislike the place."

"Alright, maybe a little," Anna admitted. "But could you blame me? I was orphaned there."

"No," Akira cut in before their boisterous teammate could say anything. "I don't blame you at all."

"Ditto," Hiji agreed. "I'm very glad you came here because you're the best friend and best teammate anyone could ask for."

"Agreed," Akira said. "You are good friend, even if you have a motor mouth."

"Oh bite me," Anna smiled even as the other two laughed at her red face. She knew that the two of them would always try to cheer her up no matter what was going on. They were just that kind of team. They were a gang of misfits that overcame the odds be it their sensei's untimely demise or treacherous missions, after all they were Team 12.

"I just don't like silent spaces." She continued even as they laughed.

"Really?" Usagi-sensei quipped. "I never would have guessed with you."

"You can be just as loud as us sensei. In fact you're even louder." Hiji smiled. "That's why they called us the Percussion Squad."

Usagi-sensei melodramatically sighed as she glared at the grinning Inuzuka ignoring the giggling Hyuuga and Anna. As they descended into their usual bickering mood Anna allowed the sounds of the argument and the restaurant to sooth her still troubled spirit till at last she realized it didn't matter if she was heading back to Arendelle or the Land of Snow. Her family there was gone and instead it was here in Konoha. Now if only she could shut up her conscience and heart that kept whispering about her guilt she would just peachy keen.


	4. The History of the West

Chapter 4

_The Hokage monument was a sight to behold indeed. Anna stared at for a very long time as she sat on the wagon of the caravan. Finally she tore her eyes away to look at the village proper and was amazed at what she saw._

_There were men and women with the most outlandish colors that Anna had ever seen, furious animals that stood by the side and conversed like men were just a few of the wonders that she could see. The fashions too were outlandish and yet wonderful. The men wore dresses and the women trousers. In short it was like something from her fairytale stories come to life. Anna could barely hold in her excitement as the caravan stopped and was inspected by the guards waiting for them at the gate. _

_One of the guards approached her and asked the driver something while pointing to her. When reply came as a negative the guard gave her a hard look that dampened her spirits somewhat. Fortunately Daichi step in and seemingly explained the situation. Nodding guards soon let the caravan into the village proper but Anna was called away by Daichi to go to a place called Immigration and from there she was told that she would be assigned living quarters and a pension to help her begin her life in Konoha…_

"Damn it he's late again!" Naruto bellowed as he paced in front of the village gate. Sasuke barely reigned in a sigh at his antics. It was bad enough that he made a fuss at home with Anna getting on his case about his disorganization. Now Naruto was theatrically blowing up about his sensei's chronic tardiness. This shouldn't have been a surprise since this was practically routine at this point but Naruto seemed to find the need to complain about this. All. The. Time.

He could feel a sigh building up and quickly built up his usual walls of indifference in order not to strangle the moron. He needed his murderous rage for _that man_ not for an idiot that just merely annoying at this time. He leaned back to the guard post giving off an air of nonchalance so Sakura would not try to engage him with pointless conversation since he was already on the verge of blowing up with frustration at his sensei's chronic tardiness and Naruto's stupidity. Although now that he thought about she'd gotten better at not being a mindless fan. In fact after the Chūnin exams she became downright good. Gone was the fan girl and in its place was a shinobi. Well, not completely if he was being completely honest but certainly enough that Sasuke could admit that she'd gotten better at her ninja skills.

As he pondered the changes that Sakura had undergone he turned his gaze to Anna. She was wearing standard shinobi attire befitting a Konoha ninja with a few personal touches that distinguished her from others. For one thing her sleeves and the backs of her fingerless gloves were decorated with a strange form of script that she'd called "runes" sewn in with crimson thread on the sleeves while the runes on the metal on the backs of her gloves were craved into them. She'd told them that the runes meant something in her homeland's language at one time. Once Naruto had heard this he insisted on getting runes too. Something that Anna obliged him with all too gladly.

It was clear from any standpoint that Usuratonkachi was completely devoted to her not that Sasuke could blame him for once. She was kind, open, a motor mouth and bubbly when not on missions that is. That made her an enigma in his mind because of the fact that she was far too nice to be a shinobi. She opened her heart too easily and was something of a mother figure to everyone even Sakura in Team Seven. In fact in the deepest depths of his soul he considered her…precious to him. Rather like the rest of Team Seven had become to him.

This made her silence and distance that she was maintaining now a little unnerving. Of course she could just be preparing for the mission. But even that didn't make sense considering he'd seen her prepare before since he'd moved into their apartment several weeks ago...

"Good morning, my pupils!" Kakashi blithely chirped uncaring that Naruto was leveling a thunderous glance at his direction. "I seemed to have gotten slightly lost on the path of life."

"BULLSHIT!" Naruto bellowed. Sasuke was inclined to agree with him along with a rather miffed Sakura and Anna.

"I see that everyone is here." Kakashi commented ignoring the shout with an air of herculean patience. "Excellent, let's move out."

"Alright!" Naruto crowed instantly forgetting that he was mad at their sensei. "Let's go!"

With that said he jumped into the treetops with a spring and ran…to the west. Kakashi shook his head at his antics and beckoned to the rest of the group. "This way please," he said with an eye smile, "our port is much more south near the River Country."

"Um Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes Sakura-chan?" Kakashi turned towards her with a smile. She squirmed slightly under the teacher's gaze. Not that Sasuke could blame her since Kakashi could be off-putting at times but he still maintained a wall of indifference even though he too was curious.

"Isn't that a bit well, _too _south?"

"We're trying to avoid Kiri's attention," Anna replied flatly as she adjusted some scrolls on her back. "By taking a more southern route we don't get Kirigakure's attention. In addition that we're changing ships so we're still heading north but just not being obvious about it."

"Couldn't put it better myself," Kakashi grinned underneath his mask. "Yes it is too south but we're making sure people don't know we're heading towards the Snow Country. Konoha or any other shinobi power usually don't get involved with politics that far north. In fact we stir clear of that area usually."

"Why?" Sasuke asked before he could stop himself. He tended to allow the most vocal of the group to ask the pertinent questions mainly because it allowed him to plan for the worst. Still there were exceptions to the rules and this was the time for it.

"Magic," Kakashi chirped happily as he jumped into the trees. Sasuke gave him a flat look indicating how much he believed that explanation even as he and the rest of the group followed him.

Kakashi seeing his joke or explanation fall flat sighed and continued: "Actually there's a more practical reason. It was just that until recently there was really no need to pay attention to the Snow Country. They had no resources they could offer us except for a few luxury goods until recently. Their land was too far away except for Kiri to annex and control. And as you have guessed Kiri had decided it wasn't worth it due to the lack of resources and the climate. Also they have no shinobi core to speak of so there was no threat to anyone so we've left them alone."

"Wait so are there no ninja there?" Sakura asked surprised. "I would think that that would be some clans there even if there was no hidden village."

"There are few clans present," Anna nodded taking over from Kakashi. "However the North lands like Snow Country, the Southern Isles, Lapland, and Weasel town…"

"Weselton," Kakashi corrected with a snort, "although I can understand the confusion about their name given their current leader's behavior as of late."

"Right, Weselton. All of them have a long history of strong rulers governing the squabbling lords instead of the lords holding all the power. Hell, there are places in the Land of Snow that were run by a diet of freedmen centuries ago until the monarchy and nobles took over. So unlike here there are few if any rival clan issues like the Senju/Uchiha conflict because there were no rival lords fighting over power just one land under the king or queen. Also said king and queen would settle disputes with the help of diplomats that weren't ninjas further easing the tension. Once a very long time ago there was feudalism but it was dispensed with far before Five Countries decided to settle down. As a result the few clans living there just interspersed into the populations. In fact the only clan that I can think of is the Saami clan in Snow Country and they've intermingled with the population more or less making them more of a people than just a single clan."

"So there are no ninjutsu users at all?" Sasuke asked shocked.

"Oh there are," Kakashi answered. "But there aren't as many as here."

"So why'd you mentioned magic?" Sakura probed looking at Kakashi strangely.

"I say that because there really is magic in those lands." Kakashi eyes smiled.

"What?" Sasuke nearly stumbled over the branch he'd landed on. Was Kakashi really being serious? There was such a thing as magic?

"You heard me Sasuke," Kakashi said smugly clearly liking the fact he was throwing them for a loop. "There is magic there."

"But…" Sakura faltered.

"But there's no such thing as magic?" Kakashi finished. "Well yes and no."

"Um…" Sakura's confused looked echoed Sasuke as he stared at his teacher. Surely he wasn't being serious…

"I think what Kakashi is trying to say while being a jerk about it." Anna growled annoyed at his antics or at least Sasuke hoped it was just a joke because this was throwing a lot of things he knew into question. "Is that yes you are right Sakura, there aren't magic users here. Ninjutsu is the norm here so we don't have magic users. But there are enough users over there."

"However," she continued. "Even there it's rare thing, like once in a blue moon sort of thing."

"So what is magic?" Sakura interrupted. "If it's not chakra then what is it?"

"No one knows," Anna shrugged. "The best explanation and closest thing that I can think of is that it's like Senjutsu only much more primordial and very difficult to control."

"Has anyone studied it?" Sasuke asked intrigued by the conversation. He usually left the rather esoteric sort of ninjutsu for Sakura to ask about but this really did intrigue him. After all any advantage he could get against _that man _would be a boon to him.

"Well," Anna started before pausing for thought. Then after a time of contemplation she continued: "Not really, in fact it's kinda a rare trait and hasn't appeared recently according to some so it's difficult to study to say the least. Also the method that magic is gained often discourages study at least for humans. In addition to that many of the magic users are either malicious with their powers making the people more prone to kill the practitioner first then asks questions later or their curses make it difficult to live with others. The rest, human or otherwise, are far too reclusive and so they don't encourage studies about their ways."

"Well, how do you get magic Anna-chan?" Sakura asked.

"There are really two ways you can get magic," Anna explained. "One is to be cursed with it and that's considered much more like then the second which is being born with it."

"Cursed?" Sakura's eyes briefly went over to Sasuke, more specifically where his Cursed Mark was. He stiffened at the inquiry even as he walked. He knew what it was like to have out of control abilities and thanks to the seal that Kakashi had placed on it was now in better shape. But not to have that opinion…Perhaps magic was more trouble than it's worth. Well he'd still keep an ear out for some way to use it against…_him. _After all until he gotten a good idea of its strengths and limitations he wasn't going to discard it yet.

"Yes, Sakura-chan cursed," Kakashi answered. "Usually that happens when a person angers someone with magic. But as Anna-kohai has pointed out that has become rare now."

"Um Kakashi-sensei, can I ask where did you learn this?"

"Through a combination of ANBU and intelligence curtesy of Anna-chan and her teams of researchers my dear Sakura-chan." Kakashi eye smiled again.

"You're too kind Kakashi-senpei." Anna rolled her eyes even as she smiled softly.

"OI GUYS WAIT UP!"

"Now he comes to us," Sasuke muttered annoyed as he dodged a dangling tree branch. "Baka, how long was it till he noticed we weren't there?"

Naruto slammed into Sasuke with a smash causing him to lose his balance which made the two of them tumble to ground with a thud. The other three in their company leapt on leaving the two boys scrambling to follow. Sasuke growled with annoyance as he untangled himself from the dogpile and soon took off after the others. Naruto followed shortly behind with a huff.

_How, _Sasuke wondered irritably as he raced to catch the others, _the hell did this moron become a ninja?_


	5. Tojinba

Chapter 5

_The immigration office was big to her eyes. There were people walking about with papers similar to the Council Room back in Arendelle. Only there were much more people just waiting around the room rather like herself. She squirmed in her seat as she waited for her name to be called. She was so excited that she was finally going to be allowed in._

_Finally she was called and she all but stampeded to the official who smiled at her gentle before handing her a paper and quickly told her in stilted verse of her home language on where she was to fill in her name, parental information and useful skills. Nodding with understanding she ran over to a bench and began to write what she could remember._

_When she reached the portion about family she filled in fake names except for Elsa's because she didn't want to be found. When they mentioned useful skills or career choices she hesitated at first but then mentioned she was fast and wanted to a ninja because the way Daichi talked about it sounded like fun. But after she'd returned the paper and waited for a while she was asked to see a man called Inoichi Yamanaka…_

"Well, gang we're here."

"Kakashi-senpei, please do not say that phrase again." Anna groaned rubbing her forehead. "In fact you're banned from ever saying it again for that matter."

"You wound me, Anna-kohai." Kakashi gasped at the mock hurt. His team rolled their eyes in the face of their antics having gotten used to their banter months ago as they walked in the bustling main streets of Tojinba. Naruto having grown up with her shenanigans just rolled his eyes and just gave her an exasperated sigh even as he smiled for Nee-chan. She was perhaps the only one that could make both Kakashi-sensei and Ero-Sennin actually behave themselves outside of the Hokage. Not an easy feat but she somehow managed to do so.

They'd reached the town with at a good time that wasn't so busy. Their brisk pace had proven to be most beneficial since the normal speed would have meant that they would have run into the rush hour as it were. Now they could stroll at their leisure and not worry about the crowds.

"I was just dismissing you guys to your own devices but if you want to…"

"No way," she answered with a steely glare. "I am not going into with your training sessions from hell or anyone else for that matter."

"Did your sensei tell you about that?"

"No, her husband Sarutobi Mamoru told me." She smirked at Kakashi's annoyed face. He soon recovered and held his heart melodramatically as if she'd stabbed him.

"Traitor," Kakashi grumbled good-naturedly. "After all the things I did for him, he goes and betrays me."

"Get over it," Anna good naturedly stuck out her tongue in retaliation.

"Right," Kakashi sighed turning back to the now giggling team. "Now I'll gather up some supplies for the voyage while you guys and Anna-chan, who is in charge, check out some of the local amusements."

"Eh?" Naruto stared at Kakashi with shock. Was he really just letting them off the hook like that? What was going on and why was Anna-nee-chan giving him her serious look?

"He doesn't want you getting in the middle, otouto." Anna said sensing his confusion barely noticing that Kakashi slowly nodded back at her.

"Oh," Naruto deflated somewhat. He knew that he could be rather loud but really did everyone brush him off as the stupid ninja? Nee-chan didn't and he could behave. But still there was a small bit of relief that he wouldn't have to do the boring stuff.

"Come on, Naruto." Anna-nee-chan placed her hand on his shoulder as Kakashi drifted away with a wave. "The _Taiseimaru_ doesn't leave until later if the schedule holds up, so since we have a boatload of time on our hands let's go see that Yukie Fujikaze movie you've been raving about."

"Wait you mean the most recent one?!" Naruto blinked with surprise at the offer. Anna-chan normally didn't indulge with allowing them to go to the movies due to their tight budget and busy schedules. But still they did like to watch on video Fūn-hime and her crusade against the evil Mao that they would get in the discount bin in the store. So to actually see in theaters…

"Alright!" Naruto shouted as he began running in the direction that he could see the movie posters in the sunlight. "Let's go! Last one there has to buy drinks dattebayo!"

"Tch, like that's ever going to happen." Sasuke smirked as he followed shortly behind.

Behind him he could hear Anna-nee-chan and Sakura-chan laugh as they tried to keep up with the two of them. Naruto grinned and boosted his speed while taking to the roofs somewhat leaving them all in the dust. If there was one thing that he was really good at aside from being the number one surprising ninja that was running away. He had numerous experiences of dodging ANBU and other annoyed chūnin when his pranks would go off so out running away from the others was easy…

"Ha! I've gotcha now Naruto!"

Or at least it would be for Sasuke and Sakura-chan. Only Anna-nee-chan was able to keep up with him aside from Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei. Then again she'd had years of experience for that after all she was usually the one that scolded him for doing the pranks. Looking up he saw his sister grin triumphantly as she held him gently in her left hand by his orange jacket and Sasuke in her right who looked stunned in front of the theater with the very confused crowd watching their antics with shock.

"I have you now, which means that you pay for the tickets." Anna grinned as he squirmed slightly in her grasp a bit more stunned that Sasuke had managed to keep up rather than instead of worrying about how his sister had caught him.

"Does that mean Teme pays for the popcorn?" Naruto grinned snapping out of his slight funk as she placed both him and Sasuke onto the ground.

"Course it does and it also means that since Sakura is last, she gets the drinks."

"Sweet," Naruto nodded his approval as he walked over to the ticket line leaving Sasuke with his sister. People having seen their trickeries quickly moved aside allowing Naruto to sneak into the line. Naruto then pulled out Gama-chan to see if he'd saved enough for tickets. After a few minutes of shuffling around his ramen coupons he found that he just had enough to get them in. Sighing with relief he turned his attention to his surroundings. It was busy sort of day with various people walking through the streets just doing their own business.

As the line moved forward he saw Sakura appear beside Anna-nee-chan. Sakura-chan looked disappointed with herself and slightly dirty for some reason. Anna leaned over and gave her a pat on her back. Sasuke just settled for glaring at him annoyed that he'd been outfoxed him and his sibling. Grinning and giving the one fingered salute he turned his attention the line only to see that he had only two more people to go before going into the ticket booth. Smiling he rubbed his hands with anticipation. He couldn't wait to see this one with his sister and his team. Finally he reached the ticket booth with minimal amount of fuss. He glanced at the very bored teenager before he looked up at the prices just to confirm that he had enough. Fortunately it was enough and some left over. Smiling he held up his finger and said: "Four tickets for Fun-hime: Clash of Snow please?"

"They'll be 6400 ryō," the teen yawned as he languidly typed the number into the ticket machine. Really this guy reminded him of Shikamaru on his worst days. Nodding Naruto pulled out the appropriate amount and pushed it towards the boy. The boy's expression didn't even change as he grabbed the money and handed Naruto the tickets. Grinning he grabbed the tickets and gave a quick nod before he rushed into the theaters with a whoop.

Sasuke was waiting in the lobby in the middle of the crowd loaded with popcorn and looking rather murderously at the milling crowd. Perhaps someone had crashed into him or more likely just looked at him period. Meanwhile Anna-nee-chan and Sakura-chan gathered up the drinks from the snack counter. Naruto merrily waved at his sister, Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan to get their attention. As it happened Sasuke spotted his enthusiastic wave.

"Got the tickets," Naruto crowed waving them in front of a thoroughly annoyed Sasuke. Sasuke gave out a grunt of acknowledgement. Curious Naruto looked at the boy and asked: "What's with the face?"

"I don't like crowds," Sasuke growled. "I especially hate crowds of annoying brats and assholes."

"Oi, easy there Sasuke," Anna soothed as she and Sakura approached the two of them. "Most of the people here are having fun and as for the nuisances ignore them."

"He wolf whistled at you, Anna." Sasuke grounded out.

"WHAT!" Naruto's defensive mode was switched on by the comment. "Where is that bastard?! I'll pound him into the ground!"

"Guys," Anna-nee-chan cut across Naruto's angry shouts. "Relax, I've had worse. You don't need to get defensive on my behalf."

"But nee-chan..."

"Let it go," Anna ordered. "I can handle myself just fine."

"Now come on," she beckoned to the three. "Let's get to the theater and find a seat."


	6. The Merry Shojo

Chapter 6

_Inoichi Yamanaka turned out to be a nice man dressed in the strange attire of the land with hair slightly darker than Elsa's sitting at a desk in a rather bright room. Anna entered into the room with the man that had led her there. The man walked up to Mr. Yamanaka to spoke into his ear a bit before he turned and walked away. Mr. Yamanaka then smiled and beckoned her forward to his desk. Anna was slightly hesitant but still she slowly came forward to him. She sat in one of the seats in front and waited for the man to speak._

_"__Hello," he said in a strangely accented version of __Norsk__, her home language. "My name is Inoichi Yamanaka and my friend says that he thinks you need to talk with me. Is that okay?"_

_"__Yeah," Anna hesitantly smiled. She was apprehensive of him but he seemed nice so maybe it wouldn't be so bad…_

Kakashi was grateful for Anna-chan's discretion. It made this part of the job so much easier to do. He sighed from behind his mask as he walked to the much shadier portions of Tojinba looking like a casual walker to the common and perhaps the less intelligent criminal eye. But anyone with shinobi training and the craftiest criminals could tell he was walking with purpose.

He was going to see if their contact, Akio Fujimoto, was able to get them a boat to Svalbard at least. He was well aware that it was even further north than Flekkefjord but if they could at least get into Land of Snow held land then they could arrange transportation to get to the monarch of the land.

Finally he reached the izakaya which Akio had told him to meet. It was a seedy out of the way little joint called _the Merry Shōjō _which was often visited by sailors as a matter of choice since the villagers tended to be suspicious of _gaijin _in general. That fact was something which Akio used to get information about trade routes and some foreign events that would escape Konoha's notice which at this time Kakashi needed.

Stiffening up he entered the hall and held his breath in order for the smells of smoke and alcohol not to over whelm him due to his nose while he casted a henge no jutsu into prearranged disguise that Akio would recognize so that he wouldn't gather suspicion. Sure enough as he released his breath he noticed that it like every other dive that Kakashi had seen in his life reeked of the usual smells only except the tobacco had a spicier smell due to the difference in the cigarettes composition but in either case it was enough to make Kakashi gag slightly.

Akio was sitting near the middle of the izakaya in a booth next to the restroom disguised as well as a hard on his luck seaman. He casually walked over and gave a wave as he walked over. "Yo, Akio how's it going?" Kakashi greeted the man keeping a lookout to see if someone could eavesdrop on the conversation. He saw none and allowed himself to relax slightly.

"Very well senpei and the same for my brother," Akio smiled as he gestured to the seat across from him. "So what can I do for ya?"

"Information on sea routes near the Land of Snow and any information on the current political situation if you please. Oh and information on our boat."

"I see is there any particular reason or just curiosity?"

"Let's just say I'm curious." Kakashi eye smiled back at the tanned man. "I want to know things that might be a probability should I be taking a voyage out there."

"Fair enough," Akio took a long swag from his sake cup. When he'd finished he continued on: "All I have to say is that things have settled down somewhat near Kiri, so pirate raids by their Black Ops on transports are low. However some freelancers have taken their place but nothing really large scale so most ships aren't bothered that much. Oh and as for the political state…"

"Sorry I've got nothing new to report," Akio apologetically shrugged. "Just that King Eirik Fortinbras is in charge at this time and Dotō Kazahana is his well…He calls himself the Kage of the place. No really he actually calls himself that."

"A Kage?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"I know right?" he snorted as he took another sip of his drink. Kakashi couldn't blame him, to call oneself a Kage without the kind of power that big five boasted was a little silly not to mention suicidal if one of those said nations took offense to it like Kiri. Still that was good information.

So Dotō was an arrogant sort now that was something he could use. Arrogant people tended to be easily provoked or fooled. Should the trip go sour then he'd have some sort of leverage…Or he could just sic Anna-chan on him since she was phenomenally good at flattering people. It had something to do with her outgoing personality that attracted people to her which Kakashi knew from experience having dealt with her in working field and outside of it.

"Is that all you've got?"

"Unfortunately," Akio shrugged. "Sorry senpei, I can't be of more help with the information but with the trade being erratic due to the embargo just being lifted and Kiri interfering with things there's not much I can get except hearsay. But the good news is that I can safely say that your ship will take you to Svalbard. From there you need to arrange your own transportation. "

"That's fine," Kakashi said. "I got enough information now to work with anyway. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Akio sipped out his glass. "By the way," he leaned forward to Kakashi lowing his voice further, "how's the pipsqueak my brother rescued?"

"She's fine," Kakashi replied. "She's just with my cute little genin making sure they don't get in trouble right now."

"Well that's good," Akio smiled. "My brother was wondering about her and what she was doing."

"He needn't worry," Kakashi said. "She's a capable Chūnin of Konoha and part of the Intelligence. She's alright."

"No kidding," Akio raised an eyebrow with a soft smile upon his face. "Nice to see his recruit is doing so well. Tell her we said hi."

"I'll be sure to pass along the sentiments."

"Good," he now smiled broadly as he leaned back into his chair.

"Then our business is done." Kakashi got up from his chair nodding to the man. The man in turn poured himself another glass as Kakashi got up from his seat and walked out of the establishment unnoticed by the very drunk and indifferent patrons. He waited a few blocks before he dropped his disguise allowing his jutsu to dispel just in case of a surprise attack. When none came he allowed himself to slouch and walked over the market district where he knew the supplies would be.


	7. Doubts of a Kunoichi

Chapter 7

_"Anna-chan," he leaned forward towards Anna who was fidgeting in the seat. The questions part had been long and she was getting tired of sitting down. Still she listened for what he was going to say. "I was wondering if it would it be alright if I looked into your head?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"There's a jutsu I can use to see if people are lying to me. It won't hurt I promise but if you really want to be a ninja you have to do this. It's standard procedure if you want to enter into the ninja corp."_

_"But I didn't lie sir!" Anna protested a bit scared at the idea of someone seeing her memories. Mr. Yamanaka had been really nice to her so hearing this request was a bit scary especially since she didn't know what it meant._

_He smiled and ruffled her hair in a way she wasn't familiar with causing her to freeze with surprise. "Then don't worry, like I said before it won't hurt," he assured her making her relax. "All I want to do is check some things out before we're done okay? Trust me it won't be long and if all goes well maybe we can get you into the Academy soon. Okay?"_

_"Okay," she nodded hesitantly while she steeled herself for what would happen next. She was going to become a ninja. She had liked Daichi and wanted to help people like he did her. So if this was what she had to do, then so be it…_

The movie was good for someone that had never had experience in ninjutsu or any other kind of shinobi art. It had enough fantasy elements in it that Sakura could shrug off the more silly aspects of the production while still enjoying the whole thing. Still that said she could see the appeal of it to those unfamiliar with the ninja lifestyle. She'd thought the same thing that clearly the writers did about being a ninja before she'd gotten to being genin and being in this team. The events had awakened her to the true nature of being a shinobi and had made her reassess on how she approached it.

It had been a sobering wake up call indeed with facing a missing in their first away mission, then running into Orochimaru in the exams, surviving an invasion as well as a raging Bijuu without casualties. This was a revelation that she was still trying to come to terms with if she was honest with herself.

There were times that she could feel herself slip back to her old habits only to snap herself back into shape and other times it was so easy to fall back. It was something that she actively had to be vigilant for and watching this movie on top of losing a simple race was just a subtle reminder of how much she really needed to learn in order to stay at least within distance of what the boys were accomplishing. Sighing with annoyance at her melancholy mood brought on by the picture, she looked over to Anna-san who was watching the boys wrestle each other after one of their verbal spats had devolved into a physical one outside of the theater since the movie had concluded. If one could take inspiration for being able to face almost insurmountable odds and overcome them without falling apart like Sakura felt like at times then it was her.

Anna-san was certainly was an anomaly as far as the ninja force was concerned. In a world were _gaijin _were treated with wariness or down right hostility she'd managed to not only claw her way up the ranks but had found a little niche where her talents were useful. In addition to that she'd done this while being opposed by others in the same ninja force for her foreign origins and having a very late start. For pity's sake she had to learn a new language and writing system while being trained and yet she'd triumphed over all the obstacles after fighting tooth and nail to gain it and the respect that it entailed. Sakura was almost jealous of her success because of this and yet…She was just so _nice _and remained so despite what happened to her_._

Honestly it was this trait that made it so hard to hate or even being jealous of her due to the fact that she was just so outgoing in terms of personality and so hard working. In fact Sakura had to admit that only Naruto and perhaps Lee were comparable to how much work she did to prove herself. It was rather disheartening to say the least but she would succeed she didn't want to the one lagging behind on this team…

"Oi Sakura-chan a ryō for your thoughts?" Anna asked falling into step beside her. Sakura jerked up from her slightly depressed stupor noticing the older woman. Smiling she was about say no until she caught a look from her that told her lying wouldn't help.

"How do you do it?"

"Eh, what are talking about?" Anna blinked as Sakura gazed straight into her eyes.

"How on earth do you manage to keep up with your teammates?"

"Training…"Anna trailed off for a brief second before her face light up. "Is this about the boys and their macho insane power levels?"

"Yes," Sakura sagged. "I mean I thought I was good when I left the Academy 'cause of my grades but more and more I feel like I'm being left behind. In fact I feel like I'm just looking at their backs as they race ahead of me."

"What brought this on?"

"I've been thinking this before the Invasion and the Exams but the movie reminded me of it," she answered the chūnin. "I was just watching it and thinking about how I'd viewed being a ninja before all of this started."

"You aren't the only one."

"What do you mean, Anna-san?"

"Well, it's just that you aren't the only one that entered the ninja corps with the wrong idea or rather the wrong approach." Anna answered. "I thought it was about just being cool and helping people out. And while the second is true I was unaware of precisely what helping out entailed."

"You mean you didn't know…" She began before trailing off as she realized precisely how stupid the question sounded. Sakura mentally kicked herself for such a foolish question, of course she wouldn't know. She wasn't born in Konoha; ninjas were something mythical shadow fighters rather than majestic heroes that they were known as. So of course she was unaware of all of the aspects of ninja culture. Hell, she wasn't exactly an expert either if the Chūnin exams were any indication. So she stayed quiet and listened to the older woman. Perhaps she could glean some advice on how to overcome her inadequacies as a ninja.

"I learned that being a ninja meant that I would be doing things that I didn't particularly agree with or even like." Anna continued giving her a long hard as Sakura blushed at the almost blunder even while listening. Anna-san then smiled and said: "But in spite of all that I know that I wouldn't change a thing of it."

"Sakura-chan," she smiled down at her. The change in tone caused Sakura to look up at her. "What you need to do is instead of worrying about being left behind is to find your own niche."

"Find my niche?"

"Yeah, you need to find something that you're good at and go with it." Anna said with wink.

"Take me for example." She pointed at herself. "I'm not the best fighter in my class and yet I want to be in ANBU. So what do I do? I go into Torture and Interrogation: Intelligence division where I can be of use so that one day I can use that to help out my comrades in the field and maybe someday be chosen as a member."

"So what you need to do is stop focusing on how you don't match up with the boys and focus on what you want to do."

"But…"

"Now, I'm not saying you should ignore their progress." She held up her hand stopping Sakura before she could voice her objection. "But realize that not everyone has the same strengths and are there better at different things. If we were all the same then there wouldn't be a need for different divisions of the Shinobi Corps. Everyone has their own place to be in. But you can use them as a way of motivating yourself. But don't always worry about matching them exactly."

"So…what if it feels like I can never catch up?"

"You don't need worry about the "what ifs" in life," Anna-san replied. "Kimiko-sensei always used to say that focusing on the "what ifs" leads to doubt and trouble. Focus on what you've got and work to improve other talents. That's all you can do."

"Now you're book smart or so I've heard," She nodded towards Sakura. "That's good because these two are the densest ninjas I've seen and I'm related to one those idiots. So you've got a leg up on that. Now see if you can develop something from that."

"Is that…" she trailed off before gathering her nerve before she continued with the question. "Is that what you did Anna-san?"

"Oh yeah, I had to work for it but I did indeed use my book smarts to get ahead."

"But there's something else you need to utilize to get stronger too and that's your teammates." She continued on with a smile. They're your support and help. So if you need it don't hesitate to ask for it. I'm sure they'll be glad to help out."

"Well said," a voice interrupted the conversation causing Sakura to jump. Anna-san due to her sensor nature merely raised an eyebrow as they both turned to see Kakashi-sensei had turned up beside them. But that was nothing compared to Sasuke-kun and Naruto's yelp as they spun around to face their teacher.

"Any luck?" Anna-san asked pointed ignoring the complaints and glares coming from all of the genin.

"Why yes," Kakashi eye smiled at them. "Our contact has confirmed that our ship is leaving but we aren't going to Flekkefjord directly."

"Figures," Naruto muttered mutinously. "So are we going?"

"We're heading to Svalbard."

"Svalbard, isn't that north of where we need to be?"

"Ah I've never notice," Kakashi gibed. "Good spotting Sasuke-kun."

"Then why the hell are we going all the way up there?!" Naruto bellowed. Sakura secretly agreed with him but had the better sense not voice this out loud.

"Because some of the scientists we are escorting are stationed up there." Kakashi answered. "We're just picking them up and then we head to Flekkefjord."

"Jeez, it seems like we're taking the long way to get there," Naruto grumbled.

"Blame Kiri for that," Kakashi said his tone no longer teasing.

"Oh," he continued his voice softening as he turned to Naruto's older sister. "By the way the Fujimoto brothers say hi, Anna-chan."

"Really?" She smiled. "How are they?"

"I only saw one of them but he assured me that they both were fine."

"That's good to hear."

"So did you get the supplies Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura inquired.

"Most of them," he nodded. "But I need you guys for the last bit."

"Which is what?" Sasuke asked slightly annoyed.

"Winter clothing, because where we're going the temperatures are going to be subarctic."


	8. Shopping and Truths

Chapter 8

_True to his word it didn't hurt at all. It just felt weird like her head was a huge wardrobe and someone was going through it with a gentle touch. But instead of clothing it was her memories. Finally after what felt like both a long time but yet like a second it was over._

_"Anna-chan," Mr. Yamanaka looked at her with a rather disappointed look she gulped at what he would say next. Would he yell like the instructors or like Papa when he was really mad? "Why did you run away?" His tone was more of disappointment and yet had a sad tone to it rather than expected anger which although discomforting didn't make her feel like she had to lie._

_"Because I knew that no one would miss me." She answered honestly. He'd seen her memories so lying wouldn't help her cause. "Nobody cared about me so I left."_

_"Are you sure about that?" He looked into her eyes with a serious gaze that made her squirm slightly but she didn't back down from she was going to say. She was just the spare. No one would miss her since she was just back-up and Elsa was the perfect one._

_"YES!" she shouted looking into his eyes pleading with her own. "I don't want to go back to that place were doors are closed and no one talks about it. I don't know what's wrong. So nobody's gonna miss me."_

_"Not even Elsa?"_

_"No," she whispered after a split second of silence looking down at her shoes. "She won't. She doesn't want me…or she'd."_

_"Or she'd do what Anna-chan?"_

_"She'd have opened her door when I knocked all those times instead of telling me to go away or ignoring me." Anna answered looking at him straight in the eye not bothering to hide her tears as she began to cry. Distantly she heard Mr. Yamanaka get up from his chair and walk around his desk. Suddenly she felt his hand on her shoulder causing her to look up. He stood there rubbing calming circles into her back as his other hand soon wiped away her tears and snot with a handkerchief._

_"You do realize that you made a very impulsive decision by running away from that?" He asked as he kneeled down to her level after she'd calmed down with a sad look in his eyes._

_"Impulsive?"_

_"Not very well thought out, quick decision." Mr. Yamanaka answered leaning back before he straightened himself. "We're going have to talk to the Hokage about this."_

_"Are you…" she trailed off afraid what the answer would be. They couldn't send back could they? Would they? She knew it would crush her if she was sent back there. Suddenly he placed his hand in hair again like when he'd used that jutsu only this time he was gently stroking her head which comforted Anna slightly._

_"No," he whispered much to her relief. "We're not sending you back because we can't go there now."_

_She looked up startled out her comfort. Mr. Yamanaka paused before answering her unasked question. "There's an embargo in place due to raising problems with a bunch of very scary people. What that means is that ships aren't going back to Arendelle and they aren't sending any here."_

_"So," he finished sadly looking at her in the eye. "You have to stay here now and for that to work we need to see the Hokage."_

"WHOA! LOOK AT ALL THESE HUGE COATS NEE-CHAN!"

"Naruto," Sakura hissed before she slammed her fist into his head as they walked into the store. "Don't shout. We're in a store and no one wants to hear you."

"Ow…"

Groaning in annoyance Anna rubbed her head while the hushed argument continued on behind her with Sakura and Naruto-otouto getting more and more passionate over…Attempts at being quiet. Oh brother. Was this really necessary? It was a small wonder why Sasuke would get irritated at them for their antics. As it was Kakashi was ignoring the argument with air of very strained patience while Sasuke looked like a carved glacier. That left her to do something before it got out of hand.

"Guys," she cut across them before the argument could continue. "Knock it off. Seriously otouto how are old are you? Five?"

"But nee-chan…"

"Naruto," Anna countered. "Don't push it. Yes it's gonna be cold and yes that's fascinating we get to wear such huge coats so knock it off right now."

"Fine," he sulked as he walked away with a relieved Kakashi and Sasuke into the males section. Shaking her head amused by his mood swings now that the pointless argument was done she turned to Sakura and jerked her head towards the female section with a smile. Sakura returned it and soon the two of them walked towards it with a spring in their step that had been absent before. She knew that Sakura adored shopping and given she was friends with Hyuuga Hoshi who was another shopaholic so she was well versed in the art of shopping even if she wasn't an avid shopper.

The section contained various cold weather items that she knew they needed for the trip. From what she'd heard it would seem that the Land of Snow was aptly needed since it rarely had warm weather. As a result their growing season was very short hence the imports. This was drastically different from Arendelle that she vaguely remembered from her childhood. It had been cold yes, but the summers were still there. It certainly was a mystery with the weather change.

But that mystery would have to wait since she was trying to find something that would keep her warm in said climate. This was no problem from what she could see there were thick coats, undergarments, pants, gloves and all sorts of other gear lined with nylon and rayon aplenty. The only problem was that all of them were of more or less the same color…black and white.

"Would it kill people to have some color so I don't look like a walking snowperson or a baku?" She grumbled as she fingered the coats annoyed.

Sakura giggled as she wondered over to the young teen female section. Anna glared at the offending item before grabbing a black parka along with some matching gloves and some undergarments with a slight huff as Sakura vanished into the rows. Ugh life was so unfair.

Anna was too busy glaring that she almost failed to notice the man that was wondering the store till her chakra sense belatedly alerted her to him. Turning slightly so she could avoid him she glanced up only to see it was...

"Kakashi!" She barked annoyed that he'd masked his chakra signature. It wasn't exactly rude per say but still they weren't in the village which made it kinda important for her to know where people were. And not knowing where they were combined with the pervert strike that she knew that he had didn't improve her temper. "What the hell are you doing in the women's section?"

"Would you believe that I was looking for you guys?"

"No," she glared at him suspiciously. "I don't especially since I don't see the boys tagging along with you. So what are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering if I could ask you something without my cute little genin overhearing and asking questions. I'd figured you'd want this conversation to be private and we'll get scant amount of that in the boat. In fact we'll have even less when we're on the mission itself."

"Okay, shot."

"Are you okay?"

"Wait what?" She blinked at him.

"You heard me," Kakashi said his slouch became a little less sloppy indicating that he was taking this conversation seriously. "I know that going back there must be hell for you and I was just wondering if you were alright with it."

"I'm fine," she replied automatically. Why was everyone asking her that? First Sasuke, then her teammates, then Naruto when they were on their way to Tojinba and now him were all asking about her wellbeing. Was that obvious that she was nervous as hell about returning to her old country which she used to be the spare sovereign of? A country that now didn't even exist anymore...Okay the sovereignty issue wasn't a problem. But still that didn't negate the fact that her family had been there and might well be dead...

"Okay maybe not," she amended with a sad sigh. "I'm just worried about what I'll find there and I'm still a bit leery of the place. I mean I know it was my birthplace and my family lives or lived there. But... I went away for a reason, a very good reason in fact, and I don't regret making that choice but still... I don't know what to do or how I would feel _if _and this is a very big _if _I do run into relatives. Am I a horrible person for not thinking about my family for the past eleven years or not? And what's worse is that I don't even consider them family anymore. Does that make me a monster? Because I don't know and I'm not sure if I want to find out."

"No," Kakashi answered cutting across her ramblings. "The fact you're thinking and worried about means that you do care on some level. So I'd say no. You're not monster. I think that you're just someone who made a choice and is living with the consequences."

"I should know about that," he trailed off his eyes clouding with haunted memories of past mistakes floating before him. Anna bit her lip and then placed her free hand on shoulder in comfort. She knew that he'd lost his father, his team and his sensei over the course of years to circumstances either within or beyond his control. So she therefore sympathized with him over it considering she'd lost her sensei after a year. Even if it wasn't to the same degree a loss was still a loss. And she knew that he cared for her, not just because she cared for Naruto but also as a comrade at first and later as a friend.

"I know," she said softly. "I'm just so messed up about my feelings right now."

"But," her face took a flinty look. "I can assure it won't interfere with the mission or compromise my judgment."

"Good, but I worry about you more so then the mission because I consider you a very good friend."

"Yeah," she smiled sadly. "I know that, and I appreciate it."

"Just..." she began. She wasn't sure to express this to the man. After all he was cut off from many people and it was only with the experience with this team that he'd started coming out his shell once more. He'd warmed up to Naruto first before he'd come to accept her as part of the group.

"Do you need time?"

"Yes," she concluded with a sigh of relief.

"Well," Kakashi scratched the back his neck nervously as he continued. "If you decide you've had enough time then do know my door is open for discussion."

"Thanks Kakashi-senpei."

"Hn," Kakashi grunted in a dead ringer for the last Uchiha's none committal grunt. "Think nothing of it. I just want to help out a good friend. Now come on let's get the genin and head to the ship."


	9. Interlude: Initiation

Interlude: The Past

_She wasn't sure what they were talking about but it sure was taking a long time. It had been several hours ago that she and Mr. Yamanaka had arrived at a place called the Hokage tower. After going past several guards he'd told Anna to wait outside while he discussed a few things with him. Well she was waiting and he hadn't come out in several hours but other people had come in like that one man…_

_Anna shivered at the memory of the one eye man with the cane. There was just something scary about him. He'd come and from what she could tell from the voices he wasn't welcome at all. And yet still she remained here. _I hope they let me stay,_ she thought as she wrapped her arms tighter around her knees as she sat on the floor miserable and afraid. She could feel doubt starting to creep into her thoughts as she worried if they were going to send her away. But then she shook herself from her thoughts. _I am not going back there. I can't go back so I am going to do what I need to do. I'm not giving up. I can't give up. If I do, I might as well go back to that place with closed doors.

_Finally after a long time of waiting a bearded man with scar on his face opened the door and called her in. Inside the room were the people that she'd seen walked in and they were all standing around someone that looked like a grandfather figure she'd seen drawn in a book. Gulping stepped in and walked to the middle of the room. She looked around briefly at the people surrounding her at lost as to what to do. Then thinking back to her etiquette lessons that she so hated she picked up her dirty skirt and curtsy clumsily to everyone. The old man gave her a soft smile which relieved her nerves somewhat._

_"__Hello, Anna-chan." The old man said. "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen. I am the Hokage, the leader of the village."_

_"__Hello Hokage sir," Anna smiled at him. "I'm Anna!"_

_"__I know that," he chuckled. "Inoichi-san has already told me. Now then Anna-chan I hear you want to become a ninja. "_

_"__Yes sir," she nodded respectfully to the Hokage fidgeting slightly with nerves._

_"__But," he replied, "You are the princess of your land of Arendelle correct?"_

_"__Yes sir," she answered fidgeting slightly under his gaze. After a split second she felt compelled to add something more to it to make the point clear that she wasn't going back or that she was missed at all: "But I'm just the spare sir. No one cares about me."_

_"__Be that as it may," the Hokage said, "You are still a princess and therefore can't be a ninja."_

_She felt crushed by the proclamation and felt herself wilt. So she couldn't even be a ninja…So what could she do in this land?_

_"__However," the Hokage cut across her thoughts as he continued on, "If you renounce your title and swear complete allegiance to Konoha I think we can put you in as a trail born."_

_"__What's a trail born, sir?"_

_"__That means is that you will be able to go to the Academy but you will have someone watching you for a little while like a guardian. If you're good for say six months then you'll be allowed in as full citizen of Konoha and if you graduate you'll be able to join the Shinobi Corps." Inoichi explained._

_"__Please note that this is the first time we've done something like this," the bearded man sitting beside the Hokage said giving her a hard look that made her gulp. "So you'll be the first and perhaps only one to do this. Are you ready?"_

_"__Yes sir," she nodded firmly giving him a steely look. "I'll do it."_

I have to, _she thought, _because I'm never going back. The past is in the past.

_"__Very well," the Hokage said. He got up from his chair and pulled out a huge scroll from the bookshelf and laid it on the desk. His hands flickered through several weird positions until he finally pressed his pointer and middle of both his hands to the scroll. Much to Anna's shock the scroll opened with a hiss and strange writing appeared upon it. Once that was done, he pulled out a knife and beckoned her forward gently. _

_Anna slowly made her way to the desk her heart pounding but her head held high as she approached. She could have sworn she saw an approving gaze in the Hokage's eyes. A chair was placed in front of her and the bearded man stood her on top of it so she could see the Hokage's eyes. _

_"__Now," he said once that was finished. "Repeat after me if you please."_

_"__Okay," she nodded and prepared herself._

_Soon after they began and sure enough the__ oath didn't take that long; all she did was just repeated what he said after him. As she spoke her voice grew stronger and stronger to where the tremble in her voice all but disappeared. Finally when they made it to the end where she swore serve Konoha and its Hokage from threats from outside and inside with all her might and soul and how she would keep the Will of Fire burning for all the citizens and the future generations. He then reached and gently grabbed her right hand. Taking the knife he sliced her palm and much to her surprise he placed it on the scroll. The scroll hissed and more writing appeared spreading out from the parchment to the desk and her arm._

_He then looked up and smiled at her and then let go of her hand which she still held out confused as to what would happen next. He then went ahead and pulling out a inkpot and brush drew strange symbols on her the back of her hand. Finishing this he did another strange series of hand movements and poked her hand. Suddenly she saw the writing spread across her hand and up her arm before disappearing._

_When that was done he closed the scroll and looked at Mr. Yamanaka and said: "Do you vouch for this little one?"_

_"__I do," Inoichi smiled at Anna. "I will be her sponsor and I will teach her our ways."_

_"__Good," the Hokage smiled back. "She is your responsibility and you will make sure she is ready when the next Academy term starts so she may join her peers."_

_"__Of course, she'll be ready."_

_"__Then Anna-chan," the Hokage turned his gaze on Anna. "Become a shinobi like no other and prove to all that you have the Will of Fire burning brightly within your veins. Go with him. Learn from him and grow little one."_

_"__YES SIR!" She shouted her previous fear forgotten. She jumped down from the chair and walked over to the waiting Mr. Yamanaka who grabbed her hand and led her to his house. Thus began the journey of Anna no longer of Arendelle but of Konoha._


	10. Fathoms Below

Chapter 9

"Ah Kakashi-san," a sailor poked his head mess hall where the group was eating breakfast. The trip to Svalbard had very long and tiring trip for all of them. At least the first half was the most irritating portion for them to say the least. They had to hide for a good portion of the trip due to patrols but once they boarded the _Valkyrie _things had settled into a pattern. Kakashi and Anna had gone over some of the more classified portions of the mission parameters that were privy to them due their rank while the young Genin had taken the opportunity to train as safely as they could upon the ship. In short it was like a long training mission but after two weeks of seeing the sea all of the time, the children were eager to see some sort of land. Not mention that even Anna was getting antsy in the boat.

Anna personally didn't mind as much since it allowed her to compose herself for the reality of actually going to see her ancestral lands. She had been wrestling with it since hearing about the mission in Konoha and even now there was a hint of guilt weaseling away at her. But fortunately being in a ship had allowed her to orient herself and at least categorize what she was feeling.

The main one was of course guilt. She didn't regret the outcome but still that said despite being either negligent or not that was her family. Leaving them without explanation had seemed like the right thing to do but as Inoichi rightly pointed out it was indeed impulsive. Anna hadn't thought about what effect it would have on her let alone those she left behind.

Fear of course was the second and last thing she was worried about. Because now coming back to the country of her birth she knew that a part of her feared what she might find or rather who she would find. Spare though she may be her leaving would have an effect on people an effect that quite frankly scared her.

Talking to Kakashi had helped mitigate the feelings somewhat. Stoic and broken as he was having a listening ear to bounce off of was nice although she would have preferred Inoichi or her team or Hoshi since they understood her due to their close friendship with her. She knew that he was trying to help that although he had difficulties understanding she gave him credit for trying. Not like her other family…Jeez she wasn't going let that go was she?

"We've spotted shore and are almost into Port." the sailor continued interrupting her musings. Sasuke looked relieved at the news, Sakura looked genuinely happy at the prospect of land and as for Kakashi… Well he just looked indifferent but Anna could see his shoulders relax. Being on the boat hadn't easy for him with the rambunctious boys and the young insecure kunoichi. In fact there was a reason he'd spent so much time with her. Much as he cared for the team she knew for a fact that having an adult was nice relief to the insanity of the children.

"We're near land?! Finally!" Naruto shouted dropping his nattō into his rice and sprinted to the upper decks. The others looked on with amusement including Anna who merely nodded and turned back to her very good juk and milk. She never really liked nattō unless it was nattō sushi, too slimy for her tastes so she just stuck to juk and tamagoyaki mostly and ramen since it was cheaper.

Of course there were slight sentimental reasons for the like as well since the juk reminded Anna of porridge she liked in the palace one of the few things she kept from her old life. Still good breakfast aside it was tempting to see what Naruto was seeing so once she finished she nearly jumped out of her chair and ran to the deck to see…

A huge mountain covered with snow to her left that towered over several pieces of smaller glaciers the floated about. It was rather magnificent sight to behold. Further on she could see the port dotted with achingly familiar one story houses dotting the town. The town itself called, Longyearbyen, laid in the middle of two towering mountain ranges with a very narrow pathway in-between making travel between the very sparse villages difficult. But most of all, even though it was day it was still dark making seem like it was still night except for the dancing lights...Anna felt a smile split her face as she looked up her heart pounding with anticipation and then _there. _

"The sky's awake," she whispered tears rolling down face even as she smiled at the dancing colors in the sky. "So I'm awake."

It had been ages since she'd seen an aurora borealis and she just realized on how much she missed seeing it. Konoha was of course too south to even get such an event. Hell, snow was a rare occurrence as it was. She could probably count on one hand the number of times that snow didn't amount to something that melted overnight into some mild ice. The first was when she was nine and she'd experienced that with her good friends Hyuuga Hoshi and her twin Akira while the last was a year ago before Naruto had turned eleven.

So snow wasn't the issue here but the sheer amount of it and lights were enough to stun anyone not used to it. The fact that Naruto wasn't shouting or scurrying about was a testament on how alien to him this environment was to him. She chanced a glance and saw he was staring at the scenery with look of awe and wonder. She even heard rather than saw Sakura and even Sasuke gasp with surprise at the landscape.

"Okay," Kakashi said as he followed the other two out. "This is something that I rarely say I'm impressed."

"What? You've never seen this before?" Anna asked.

"Snow yes, but not an aurora borealis and I must say that the stories hardly do it justice."

"Yeah," Anna smiled as turned her gaze back to sky. As she watched the shimmering lights her thoughts turned to the very distant past when such occurrences meant a night of playing games of hide and seek and tag with Elsa late into the night something that carried over to nighttime play sessions with Naruto. She knew for a fact that the Land of Snow had a new monarch and her line was now defunct which meant that all of her family was dead. Of course that was the crux of the problem right now how was she was supposed to react to something like that?

"You know," she said mock conversational manner looking over at Kakashi specifically. "There's an old legend about the aurora borealis being a bridge to Asgard called the Bifröst. It's said aurora is a glimpse of it and that the dead in the halls of Valhalla can look down from the heavens and see us."

"I think," Kakashi said giving her a warm look. "They'd like what they would see here which is several splendid shinobi about go to battle."

She smiled warmly at his indirect reassurance and turned her gaze back to the dark waters in front of them. As the ship came closer to the shore it wasn't long before Anna spotted their greeting party waiting at the docks holding lanterns making them stand out in the from the colors dancing in the sky. It was the usual kind to be expected for this kind of mission with the local noble, who looked familiar for some reason, and his entourage in tow to put on an impressive performance. Anna smile turned gleeful as she mentally rubbed her hands together. Politics, now there was something she understood intimately.

This attitude was rather ironic considering she had no interest in the political matters in her pre-Academy days. In fact her instructors had almost literally bind her to the chair to get her to sit still during her lessons but now she'd learned well from Usagi-sensei the joys of watching very rich and very powerful people make utter fools of themselves in the name of achieving a personal goal. Oh she had no interest on actually ruling but watching the chaos was…intriguing to say the least.

As the ship landed she turned and headed below deck with the others following shortly after. Reaching her room she quickly gathered her supplies and helping Sakura, her roommate, gather her own stash of supplies. Once they'd been gathered she walked up to the deck where the gangplank was being lowered. She focused on the very well-dressed man surrounded by a league of what looked like courtesans, attendants and only one shinobi. She knew their program was still young in comparison to any of the Big Five so seeing one was no surprise at all. Actually the man having on that looked at the least chūnin level was interesting indeed. It bespoke his high status of favor he curried with the King. Behind her she felt through her chakra sense Kakashi appear with the rest of the team in tow.

_Show time, _she thought as she descended onto land where their mission awaited them whatever it would bring.


	11. The Town of Longyearbyen

Chapter 10

"Hail friend," the young man said in a formal voice. He walked forward and held his hand which Anna promptly shook. "I am Adrian Danielsen, the lord of Longyearbyen, and I welcome you to my fair lands."

"I greet you as well," Anna said nodded her head. "I'm Anna Uzumaki from Konoha."

It felt odd using that form of address not to mention speaking Norsk again. She could still remember it and Inoichi still occasionally spoke to her like that in private once she'd mastered Nipponese to keep up the practice but practically no one else did except for Akira and Hoshi's hilarious attempts at speaking it. So hearing again was rather jarring for Anna.

"These are my associates," she gestured to the very silent Team Seven. "This is Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno."

"You have same last name," Adrian commented giving Naruto a very interested look which caused him to look at Adrian with a scowl. "Is he your brother?"

"Indeed," she nodded smiling softly. "He's a fine ninja."

"Well, that's good to hear." Adrian smiled. "My estate is in town and I would be happy to house you until Mr. Fett has returned from his excursion." He gesture to the quite frankly biggest house the town was capable of housing. It was a tall two story mansion and from what Anna could see in the distance it looked elegant enough.

"He's not here?" She frowned at the information stopping her categorization of the place. She was under the impression that the trip would go faster once they reached Svalbard.

"I'm afraid not," Adrian sighed. "He insisted on taking a few samples from the higher mountain ranges so he could compare it with the mainland with his colleagues."

"However," he continued. "He has indicated that he should be back before we leave in the morning. Well," he laughed at apparently his own joke. "As close as to morning as it gets here that is."

"I see," Anna nodded. She gave the man a brief once over as he too gazed at her. He was tall, strong looking and as a result he was very good looking with his cerulean eyes twinkling with charm, complete with his chestnut hair he looked like quite a ladies charmer. Were Anna any other girl she would have blushed at the attention she was being given. However she was quite used to dealing with all kinds of men and Adrian as attractive as he was had a sly edge to his eyes. These were eyes that were used to intrigue and deceit around the corner. So Anna much as she liked his looks was still on her guard.

"But I'm sure that you're tired from the trip," Adrian said after a brief second. "So may I suggest that we head to the governor's mansion instead of standing in the cold?"

"As you wish my lord," Anna bowed and gestured for the others to follow her. Much to kids' credit they silently shouldered their packs and followed along quietly. Kakashi of course appeared to be indifferent what was going on around him but in reality he was scanning for threats while appearing unthreatening. It was all the better, in her profession and personal opinion, to goad an overconfident opponent into the open.

The children on the other hand stared with open interest at the surroundings about them. Not that Anna could blame then since she too was gazing over the town curiously. True she may have been a native before but she'd never left the palace until that fateful night. So rather like the children this was her first time in forever of actually seeing the land that the former king and queen ruled that Elsa-onee-sama was supposed to inherit.

It was rather plain though unlike the grand city that she vaguely remembered from the gates in the palace. The governor's mansion was the only house that stood out. The rest while well-kept were small shops and dwellings that more or less looked the same the world over. Well save for the distinct Arendelle design that is.

_"__What's that?"_

Naruto's question brought her from her musings and she turned to what he was pointing at only to have her jaw drop with surprise. What he was pointing at was what looked like a messenger hawk, which in itself wasn't odd considering messenger hawks were used in the Land of Snow rather like Konoha. No what was odd was that it was glittering in the moonlight. And was that snow?

"Ah yes," Adrian breathed, "so another one of the Snø Dronning's creations has come to our fair island for a visit."

"Who's that?" Anna looked at the young nobleman. This was a new development. As far she knew the Fortinbras line was on the throne…could the civil war going on be about a contesting of power not disgruntled citizens as previously believed? So who was this Snø Dronning and what was she in this power struggle?

"The Snø Dronning, it's sort of a local name that many people have for someone they believed to be the daughter of Snær." Adrian looked rather blasé about it. "Some say that she's responsible for the winters getting colder and next to none existent spring and summer."

"I was under the impression," Anna crossed her arms trying to stay warm as they stood and stared at the quite frankly impossible bird. "That the winter was caused by some sort of meteorological phenomenon."

"So I believe too," Adrian assured her. "But still with creatures such as this one does tend to give in to fanciful ideas."

"Creatures?" Anna questioned.

"You mean to say," Adrian turned towards her all slyness gone from his eyes instead replaced by concern. "That no one told you about the jötnar and the snø golems that roam the mainland?"

"Evidentially not," Anna growled annoyed by the lack of information. If there was one thing that ticked her off it was being unaware of new information. This would have to be rectified immediately preferably before they ran into something potentially dangerous.

"Well allow me to enlighten you," Adrian said. "The jötnar and the snø golems appeared shortly after the winters started getting longer which is why many believe they are intertwined. Most leave people alone by save for ones near the Is Kirkegård."

"Sound like a cheery place." Anna gibed. Seriously, there was a portion of the land named Ice Graveyard? Someone had a flair for the melodramatic.

"It is a place of great danger," Adrian continued ignoring or missing her sarcasm. "No one that has gone near there has come out alive."

"So it has a cheery atmosphere and a proclamation of doom to boot, I'll bet the Tourism industry must love that." Anna smirked.

Finally getting that he was being teased he smiled as he crossed his arms and said: "Well we don't tend to advertise that fact considering it would scare away customers."

"But mark my words," he said his eyes growing serious; "You must avoid any and all golems and jötnar if at all possible. They don't take kindly to strangers and they aren't fond of the people of the land either."

As soon as he finished his explanation the hawk swiftly jumped from its perch taking off into the air. But instead of flying off like Anna had suspected it would it instead _landed on her shoulder._ Anna blinked in shock as the icy claws landed on her chūnin vest and squeezed her shoulder slightly. Kakashi in the blink of eye had already drawn a kunai and looked ready to strike until Anna raised her hand stilling his motion. Annoyed but yet still following her lead he put away his kunai and waited for the beast to make a move.

"Well," she breathed looking just as dumbfounded as everyone else was. "This guy seems to like me." She tentatively reached her hand out to the bird and again to her shock it lowered its head allowing her to scratch…snow.

She blinked and began to feel around the raptor, it was made from compact snow and traces of ice in the wing tips and claws. Were this any other piece of art she'd say it was a good one. But for it to be doing this kind of movement was a bit well ludicrous…

Anna stretched out with her chakra sense and got the biggest shock of the day, it had _no chakra at all. _What that meant was that it wasn't a chakra construct meaning this wasn't a ninjutsu of any sort, than what was it?

"Magic," she whispered coming to the obvious conclusion as she turned her gaze to eyes of the bird. The hawk's eyes glowed with an ethereal sort of light that would have unnerved her had it not been for the fact that'd she'd noticed it was made of snow and animated by magic. Due to the nature of the eye she couldn't really gage the intelligence of the beast…

Then without warning the hawk gently grabbed her pigtails, ironically the one with the white streak in it, and seemingly gazed it. Anna's free hand was already on her kunai in her pouch ready to strike. But it soon let go of her and took off into the air to parts unknown. Anna watched it go with a thoughtful frown on her face. These weren't that actions of an unintelligent creation, that much was for sure. But for what purpose did it serve? Anna couldn't guess.

"Well," Adrian said cutting into the silence, "that was certainly odd."

"Yeah," Anna agreed, "really weird."

_And this won't be the last time we'll see of its kind either. _Oh boy what the hell had they gotten themselves into?


	12. Nighttime in Longyearbyen

Chapter 11

The rest of the journey to the house was uneventful as was the dinner that night. Kakashi however kept his eyes on Anna throughout the time. She knew that he would want an explanation of what had happened and her reasoning. Anna blushed mentally at the grilling that she knew that she'd receive from him. Not that she could blame him, she never should have let that bird on her. Anna's decision not to react in the standard fashion could have resulted at the very least an injury. It was a happy coincidence that she was able to escape with only her pride suffering for it.

She gulped as the children bickered and whispered among each other as they headed towards their quarters for the night. Kakashi halted her before she reached the hallway pulling her gently into a side hall which still allowed them to watch the genin but still be out of sight. Glancing at the kids she turned and looked at the slightly annoyed jōnin.

"You mind explaining that," Kakashi inquired his tone giving nothing away but polite interest. "I mean that bird could have taken your head off."

"Curiosity," Anna answered honestly. "I've never seen a construct that exists without chakra like that bird and given it wasn't hostile enough to warrant a response from only native ninja in the area I figured that it was alright to study it."

"That's quite a gamble," Kakashi raised an eyebrow while he folded his arms across his chest. His concern leaked into his voice despite himself. "You could have been hurt or worse killed."

"It was an acceptable risk I think," Anna replied giving a steady and trying to look more confident than she actually felt about it. "I mean this is the first time we in Konoha encountered magic…at least that I know of."

"Well there was that one mission that took Shikaku's team to Corona…"

"Do I want to know why they were there?" Anna sardonically asked.

"No you don't," Kakashi smirked underneath his mask. "Now continue," he encouraged.

"Well we've as far as I know haven't had a chance to study magic or any of its constructs." Anna continued. "So it was an opportunity to study it up close."

"Too risky," Kakashi shook his head. "I realize that we aren't going to have a controlled environment for experimentation so I won't stop you from researching this."

"However," he continued cutting across any answer that Anna was about to say. "Don't take any foolish risks like that again understand? I don't want be the one cleaning up your mess or worse."

"Understood," Anna nodded. "Don't worry that won't happen again."

"Good," Kakashi relaxed. "Because I don't want to see a teammate killed again."

"And I don't want to die," Anna agreed. "If I go then who will look after the boys?"

"I don't want to think about that," Kakashi comically shivered. There was teasing there with a hint of serious worry. Anna completely understood his dilemma in this case. Sasuke had lost his family once so losing someone however close to him would probably drive him over the edge. As for Naruto…Well that particular thought was too terrible to think of.

"On that happy note," Kakashi sighed. "I'm heading to bed, night Anna-chan."

"Good night, Kakashi-senpei." Anna smiled as the man turned towards the hall where his room was located. Anna shook her head still smiling as she turned and headed towards her room that she was sharing with Sakura. Once she'd entered the room she took a brief look around at the contents. It was a modest room by lordship standards with a full bed with an elaborate dresser and vanity table beside it. All in all it was more than adequate for bodyguards like them.

As she looked she noticed that Sakura-chan was curiously looking at her as she unpacked her gear distractedly. Anna waved for her to carry on as she too placed down her scroll upon the bed and after applying some chakra released some of the contents.

It wasn't much right now since she didn't need her survival gear. It was just some regular pajamas and some bedroom care items such as a hairbrush and her pins to keep her hair in a semi-manageable state. She knew that without these she would resemble some kind of youkai.

"Um, Anna-san," Sakura's voice interrupted her unpacking causing her to look up at the genin. "What was that thing?"

"A magical construct," Anna answered as she began to fiddle with her pigtails loosening the ties until her hair unfurled around her.

"That was magic?" Sakura gasped dropping the kunai that she had previously fiddling with. "But it was like a chakra construct. Like one of Kankurō's puppets. It can't have been!"

"It had no chakra," Anna said. "Trust me it was a magical item. Magically items look similar to chakra constructs yes but they're fundamentally different in scope."

"How?"

"In truth, we don't know." Anna shrugged. "Like I said before magic isn't really understood nor is it studied. And until recently we, that is to say Konoha, haven't really encountered it. So right now we're groping in the dark with this."

"Oh," Sakura breathed before she straightened up. "So this is something new?"

"Top marks," Anna smiled. "But don't you worry. Kakashi and I have got your backs on this."

"Right," Sakura nodded. "Well, good night Anna-san."

"You know," Anna said catching Sakura's attention. "You can just call me Anna. I really don't mind."

"Really?" Sakura looked hesitant as she picked her weapons and arranged so she'd have easy access to them. Anna could understand her hesitation with informality since she wasn't exactly close to her unlike the boys of the group which even included Sasuke. Still if they were going to work together in this kind of land then well Sakura needed to relax around her. It was one thing if they were in Konoha but out here in the Land of Snow they would need each other. Besides she was part of her brother's team which made her at least a close friend even if she didn't think about that.

"Sure," Anna said with grin. "I don't mind it at all."

"Ah," Sakura smiled as she resumed unpacking until she got her night things and changed into them. "Well then good night, Anna."

"Good night," Anna replied as she continued her nightly rituals turning away and gazing into the rather large window overlooking the harbor allowing her thoughts to drift.


	13. Enter the Bjorgman

Chapter 12

Naruto couldn't stay asleep. His body insisted that it was morning even though it was still pitch black out there with the aurora borealis breaking the nightlight. He rolled over in his bed that he shared with the bastard and punched his pillow twice to get comfortable. Naruto knew that he should be resting and recharging for the next day but his excitement and body clock confusion were keeping him awake.

"The sky's awake," he muttered having heard his sister say it that one time during an Obon festival when he was ten. "Therefore I'm awake."

He wasn't sure of the significance of that statement of the time until Anna-nee-chan had told him about Elsa-nee-san. She was perhaps the last thing that Nee-chan had divulged about her life before Konoha. Given that she was very close to her before running away Naruto could understand the hurt…well sort of.

Before Nee-chan he'd been cared by various caretakers until he was determined to be old enough to care for himself. No one was especially mean towards him but their lack of warmth and caring had really left a mark on him. When he'd meet Nee-chan when he was seven and living on his own for the first time he'd been struck by her loving and open nature. He was drawn to it like a moth to the flame and soon he just started coming to her home instead of the one provided for him. In time he'd asked for Hokage-jiiji to let him adopt her into his clan since she had none.

Oh it had taken awhile and much persuading on his part but the Old Man had agreed in the end. It was perhaps the best moment of his life aside from becoming a shinobi or when Anna-nee-chan had told him that having the Kyuubi sealed in him didn't matter since he was still her brother when the Hokage had finally said yes. The ceremony was fast and sweet and she'd been family ever since. She'd be straight with him about her heritage which was something that she only reserved for her team, Hoshi-nee, both her teachers one of which was dead, the Hokage, Kakashi-sensei and Inoichi-oji, that is to say people she trusted with her life.

Of course now she was back in the country that rejected her. Which was really stupid of them since Nee-chan was a great person. Ah well their loss was his gain as Ero-Sennin would say. He leaned up in the bed when he realized that he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon and silently put on his clothes and ninja gear. He quietly tiptoed out of the room and walked down the halls. He paused in front of the room he knew his sister as staying in. He could have gone on but his sister would kill him if he left without a word. After this wasn't Konoha were he could easily navigate the area. Snapping his fingers softly removed a spare piece of paper that he kept in case he needed to make notes on something and wrote quick message on it that he pushed under the door. Satisfied that he'd covered his bases he continued walking down the hall and finding an open window used it to jump onto the roof of a nearby house before dropping to the ground.

As for the town of Longyearbyen, it seemed that it was just stirring from its sleep with shopkeepers opening up the stores and people beginning to mill out from their homes to work. Naruto smiled as he walked among the people with only a few giving him a curious look. It was interesting to see it come alive with activity rather similar to Konoha only on a smaller scale. Even though he couldn't understand them he got the feeling that were saying things similar to what would be said during this time in Konoha. He wandered near what seemed to be another harbor and looking Naruto paused as he took in the scenery.

The aurora borealis casted an eerie light making it look like he'd descended into the underworld with the lights representing the souls of all those recently passed. The harbor had seemed to ice over that night and was causing the ships to be stuck in port giving it a completely alien look to the young Jinchūriki. In this light saw figures walking out into the ice with sleds drawn by rather stout horses. Curious he jumped onto the ice pausing for a split second as concentrated his chakra into his feet so he wouldn't slip. Once he'd reached a level he felt was suitable enough he carefully followed the men into the harbor waters.

Naruto followed the men in question who were dressed in heavy dark brown clothing that made them look like bears walking across the ice. Their breath frosted every time they took a breath looking like Jiiji went he was smoking without the sweetly smell of tobacco. Many of them had facial wrapping but those that didn't have various mustaches and beards that made Naruto blink at their thickness.

They soon stopped at an obvious predetermined spot and began swinging their picks into the thick ice. Once they'd gotten a hole craved out they stuck their saws in and sawed the ice free. Then finally using rather large tongs they pick the ice and with their axes sliced in half. The remains were carted into the sleigh and soon a pile began to form. While this was going on Naruto heard what seemed to be a song that the men were singing….

_Født av kulde og vinter luft_

_og fjell regn kombinere ._

_Denne isete kraft både stygg og rettferdig_

_har en frossen hjerte verdt gruvedrift._

_Så skjære gjennom hjertet , kulde og klar._

_Streike for kjærlighet og streike for frykt._

_Se skjønnheten , skarp og ren_

_Splitte isen fra hverandre_

_Og bryte den frosne hjerte_

_Hup! Ho!_

_Se på trinnet!_

_La det gå!_

_Hup! Ho!_

_Se på trinnet!_

_La det gå!_

_Vakker!_

_Kraftig!_

_Farlig!_

_Kaldt!_

_Ice har en magisk ,_

_kan ikke kontrolleres ._

_Sterkere enn én , sterkere enn ti,_

_sterkere enn hundre menn ! Ho !_

_Født av kulde og vinter luft_

_og fjell regn kombinere ._

_Denne isete kraft både stygg og rettferdig_

_har en frossen hjerte verdt gruvedrift._

_Skjær gjennom hjertet , kald og klar._

_Streike for kjærlighet og streike for frykt._

_Det er skjønnhet , og det er fare her_

_Splitte isen fra hverandre_

_Pass opp den frosne hjerte ..._

Naruto was mesmerized at the site and stared for longer than was necessary watching with awe and fascination as the men cleared out what looked like a glacier from the harbor. What was this? Suddenly Naruto felt something nudge his left shoulder and he turned to face…a deer?

Well it looked like a deer. Naruto had seen a few when he and his class had gone camping in the Academy. But unlike the deer in Konoha this one was bigger with a gray pelt and very shaggy fur in the front and his antlers were much whiter. He blinked as the deer continued to nudge him gently. What did he want…?

Suddenly the nudging became more insistent accompanied with sniffing. Oh! Suddenly understanding came to him, he'd spent enough time with Shiromaru to get what this creature was going for.

"Sorry buddy, I don't have food." Naruto shrugged apologetically. The deer dropped slightly at this making Naruto blink again. So this creature could understand human speech? That meant it was either a company animal like the Inuzuka clans dogs or a summons like his Toads.

"Sven!" A voice barked from behind the deer. _"Ikke bry deg at ungen."_

Looking behind the apparently named Sven Naruto got a good look at the owner of the voice. It was young blond man with a hitai-ate of the Snow Country on his head dragging some ice that had been freshly cut into his sled. Like the other ice gathers that Naruto had seen he too was dressed warmly but his had a more militant look with some armor beneath his coat. Additionally it looked worn out and well used unlike the crisp clean coats and attires of the others.

_"__Beklager om det." _The man said once he placed the ice into a what he thought was a secure position. _"Han liker å gjøre at nye mennesker han ser. Så hvem er du og hva gjør du her?"_

"Eh?" Naruto blinked looking confused. He only know a few words in Norsk that he'd heard his sister mutter when she was really mad but seeing as he didn't know the translation he decided it would be best not to repeat those words. Obviously due to his hat that he'd donned on before leaving the mansion was also covering his hitai-ate so it seemed that he hadn't guessed that he was Konoha shinobi either. So instead his usual approach he decided to use a more subtle approach…

"Who the hell are you?"

"_Nipponese som tall," _the man muttered before he shook his head and spoke once more. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Finally someone who could talk properly! Naruto barely resisted the urge to whoop with joy and answered the man: "My name's Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha dattebayo!"

"Uzumaki?" The man blinked. "That's a weird name for a kid. Do people call you Maki or what?"

_Eh…Oh right!_ Naruto jerked suddenly as he remembered the lessons that Anna-nee-chan had tried to tell him on the boat ride over. It was given name first then last name rather than the other way around. Oops

"Oh sorry," he rubbed his neck embarrassed. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki," he paused before he abruptly remember the proper form of greetings. "Well met sir," he finished with a flustered bow.

"There's really no need to be that formal," the man bluster blushing slightly. "A simple hello would have been fine."

"Right," Naruto nodded. "So who are you?"

"Bjorgman, name's is Kristoff Bjorgman. I'm an apprentice ninja."

"You're a genin!" Naruto shouted pointing to him shocked. He remembered that Anna-nee-chan had told him that the program was still young and all that but he never imagined that there would be genin older than Nee-chan here!

"Yeah what of it?" Kristoff aggressively leaned into Naruto's face. Naruto was about to retort until Sven the deer stepped in-between then with a huff and glared at Kristoff. Evidentially getting a message Kristoff backed away with annoyed huff.

Happy Sven turned back to Naruto and gave him a annoyed look that communicated better than words that this particular partner was annoyed with him. Naruto huffed and gave him a squinty eyed glare in return.

"Don't bother trying to glare him down; he's right we are being ridiculous."

"What is he?" Naruto asked looking at Kristoff curiously. "Is he a summons?"

"No," Kristoff replied. "He's my warrior reindeer."

"Reindeer?" Naruto stared at Sven. "Is that what he is?"

"Yup," Kristoff said as he turned back to his ice pile. "He helps me haul ice and fight. But that's beside the point right now."

"Why's that?"

"Because I need to take you back to the governor's mansion and I need to prepare Sven for carrying the equipment to Flekkefjord and wherever else we go."

"So you're coming with us?" Naruto stared at him. He knew that others were coming but he wasn't prepared to meet them now. So he was carrying the equipment? Well that was a relief he was half afraid that he and the Bastard would be hauling the heavy stuff around.

"Yeah," Kristoff sighed as he finished securing his pile. "I was just assigned this morning."

"Now come on," he beckon as he made his way to the front of the sled.

Naruto glared at him for split second before he joined him and together they made their way back to the mansion…


End file.
